Looking to End Credit Card Debt? 4 Ways to Pay Off Credit Card Debt

With this being the new year, we all have some kind of resolution we hope to obtain. While many people are looking to slim or loose some weight others want to rid themselves of debt. Many people have followed the 52 Week Challenge to help with money issues. On the other hand, people are looking to get rid of credit card debt. Are you someone that’s looking to get rid of credit card debt, maybe I’ll be some help to you and many others? Check out these 4 Ways to Pay Off Credit Card Debt.

Pay Off the Balance with the Highest APR First

Get all the statements for all of your credit cards. Look at all of your balances and the interest rates associated with each. Concentrate on paying off the card with the highest annual percentage rate. Make sure you’re still paying at least the minimum payment on your other cards. Once that card is entirely paid off, you move on to the one that has the next highest APR. This strategy may make the most sense because it cuts out spending so much on interest. To implement this, you simply boost your payments on the card you’re trying to pay off. Choose a set amount you can pay every month and stick with it.

Pay Off the Card with the Lowest Balance First

With this strategy, you increase your payment on the credit card with the lowest balance while continuing to make the minimum payment on the rest of your credit cards. Once you pay off the card with the lowest balance, you move onto the card with the next lowest balance, and so on. It’s much easier to pay off a card with a $500 balance off than a $2000 balance. Trust me, once you pay off the first card, you’ll love the feeling and want to pay off the rest. Every low balance card that you pay in full is one less minimum payment that you have to pay each month. By knocking out one or two smaller balance cards, you’ll be able to shift your money to focus on paying off those larger balances.

Consolidate Your Debt to a Single Card or Loan

You may be thinking, why would you get a loan or consolidate your credit card debt into one single card? By doing this, you would have one single payment instead of multiple every month. When you do that, you could get your payment automated to eliminate any late fees. Many balance transfer credit cards come with an introductory 0% APR period. This gives you time to pay down your debt without any additional charges accruing, and you can use the end of the introductory-APR time as your end goal for having the debt paid off.

Budgeting

There are many ways to pay off credit card debt and there’s one that’ll fit your lifestyle. By creating a budget that accurately accounts for your expenses and income, you’ll be able to curb extra spending and find more money to throw at your credit card debt. Whether you try an app, pen and paper or Notes on your phone, just do it. As long as it works for you and your lifestyle, any realistic budget can be a good budget. Trust me, creating a budget is what helped with creating ways to get rid of my credit card debt.

Conclusion

High balances on your credit cards can be bad for your credit scores. Payment history is the biggest influencer of your scores, but the second biggest is your debt usage. This means the amount of debt you’re carrying in relation to your total credit limit is going to weigh in on your scores. If you’re maxing out your cards, your credit utilization could be high, which lowers your score. Credit card debt can pile up for all kinds of reasons. Paying it down is pretty straightforward—you just need a plan. Pick a pay down strategy and stick with it until your balances are paid off in full. And remember, paying off a card is great, but once you do, you’ll want to think twice about closing the card as the age of your credit lines is the third-largest influencer of your credit scores.